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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • You'll get the Japanese Market Special Edition CD "Trio Hour" and a Download of THIS album.

    Listen: triohour.bluemusicgroup.com

    Includes unlimited streaming of Ball Play via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

      €10 EUR or more 

     

  • You'll get the Northern Sunrise CD and a Download of THIS album. Northern Sunrise features saxophonist Steve Wilson, guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Massimo Biolcati, drummer Mark Ferber, and compositions by pianist Mika Pohjola.

    Listen: northern.bluemusicgroup.com

    Includes unlimited streaming of Ball Play via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

      €10 EUR or more 

     

  • You'll get the classic Announcement CD and a Download of THIS album.
    Announcement features saxophonist Chris Cheek, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Roberto Dani. Compositions by pianist Mika Pohjola.

    Listen: announcement.bluemusicgroup.com

    Includes unlimited streaming of Ball Play via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

      €10 EUR or more 

     

  • High quality Blue Music Group CDs at a clearance price! FREE SHIPPING worldwide. These albums are discounted because of excessive stock, not due to quality reasons. All albums contain pristine music and a production of the highest quality.

    • KAMMARENSEMBLEN: VI (2020) (Double-CD)
    Listen: vi.bluemusicgroup.com
    • PUTTES ÄVENTYR I BLÅBÄRSSKOGEN (2016)
    Listen: putte.bluemusicgroup.com
    • DAS ORCHESTER: CONSORTS (2015)
    Listen: consorts.bluemusicgroup.com
    • JILL SEIFERS WALSH: TWO FOR THE ROAD (2008)
    Listen: broadway.bluemusicgroup.com
    • SONGS OF FINLAND (2007)
    Listen: finland.bluemusicgroup.com
    • LEIVONEN LUMIMYRSKYSSÄ (Tango Music of Toivo Kärki) (2006)
    Listen: leivonen.bluemusicgroup.com
    • MIKA POHJOLA: ANNOUNCEMENT (1998)
    Listen: announcement.bluemusicgroup.com

    Includes unlimited streaming of Ball Play via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.     ... more
    ships out within 3 days

      €35 EUR or more 

     

  • A Special Bundle with 5 CDs by pianist & composer Mika Pohjola:
    • TRIO HOUR (w. Kyle Struve & Dan Loomis)
    Listen: triohour.bluemusicgroup.com
    • NORTHERN SUNRISE (w. Steve Wilson, Ben Monder, Massimo Biolcati & Mark Ferber)
    Listen: northern.bluemusicgroup.com
    • LANDMARK (w. Miguel Zenón, Ben Monder, Fernando Huergo, Roberto Dani & Johanna Grüssner)
    Listen: landmark.bluemusicgroup.com
    • ANNOUNCEMENT (w. Chris Cheek, Matt Penman, Roberto Dani)
    Listen: announcement.bluemusicgroup.com
    • TWO FOR THE ROAD (w. Jill Seifers Walsh)
    Listen: broadway.bluemusicgroup.com

    FREE SHIPPING worldwide.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Ball Play via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

      €45 EUR or more 

     

  • FREE SHIPPING Worldwide.

    • Ivo Nilsson: Tanken skall blåsas ur en gång per skift (2022)
    • Ensemble Ma: Lunaria (2021)
    • Lipparella: Hidden Voices (2021)
    • Sören Hermansson: Horn & Sound (2020)
    • KammarensembleN: VI (2020)
    • Das Orchester: Le Nouvel Amour (2018)
    • KammarensembleN: 4 (2017)
    • Johanna Grüssner & Mika Pohjola: Puttes äventyr i Blåbärsskogen (2016)
    • Das Orchester: Consorts (2015)
    • Mika Pohjola: Trio Hour (2013)
    • Johanna Grüssner: Nu ska vi sjunga (2013)
    • Steve Wilson, Ben Monder etc: Northern Sunrise (2009)
    • Jill Seifers Walsh: Two for the Road (2008)
    • Many Artists: Songs of Finland (2007)
    • Johanna Grüssner: Nu blir sommar (2007)
    • Eeppi Ursin, Mika Pohjola etc: Leivonen Lumimyrskyssä (2006)
    • Rigmor Gustafsson, Eeppi Ursin, Theo Bleckmann etc: Scandinavian Yuletide Voices (2005)
    • Tove Jansson, Johanna Grüssner etc: Moomin Voices (2003)
    • Miguel Zenón, Ben Monder etc: Landmark (2002)
    • Mika Pohjola, Chris Cheek etc: Announcement (1998)
    • Mika Pohjola, Matt Penman etc: Live at the Blue Note (1996)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Ball Play via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.     ... more
    ships out within 3 days

      €153 EUR or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    125
    releases

    Get all 125 Blue Music Group releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of I närbilder - Visor av Fritz Sjöström, The Sound of New England, Vol 2, The Sound of New England, Vol 1, Tanken skall blåsas ur en gång per skift - Daily Work, Relax to Modern Sounds, Hidden Voices, Lunaria, Works for Piano & Wind Instruments, and 117 more. , and , .

    Excludes subscriber-only releases.

    Purchasable with gift card

      €560 EUR or more (50% OFF)

     

1.
Ball Play 05:34
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2.
Two Pages 10:37
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3.
The True Crest 07:18
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4.
Eclectic Conspiracy Mode 09:07
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5.
These Foolish Things 03:05
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6.
Song of Trust 02:59
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7.
A Sunny Day 03:38
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8.
Star Dust 04:22
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9.
Humpty Dumpty 00:45
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10.
Jazz Blues 03:57
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11.
Concentracznyi 05:51
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12.
Minor Question 02:56
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13.
The Ice That Breaks 04:51
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14.
Old and Grumpy 05:56
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15.
Ninghe 04:32
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16.
Movements in Style 03:19
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17.
Sophisticated Lady 04:46
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18.
Norwegian Summer 05:06
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19.
What the World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love 03:41
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about

A collaboration with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Mark Ferber, pianist Mika Pohjola offers a follow-up to his Sound of Village duo improvisations. Pohjola features a free jazz vein of the 1960s, known as proprietary territory of Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Paul Bley and Rashied Ali. Coupled with original compositions by Pohjola, Xavier Montsalvatge and Burt Bacharach, Ball Play is a one-hour long enjoyment which naturally spans several decades of musical expression.

Ball Play opens with the title-track ... continues with a more original-spirited Two Pages, which repeats and develops a short motive in the first half, and then gradually moves toward a free flow of thought. The standards, Star Dust, These Foolish Things and the Burt Bacharach original What The World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love are among the best renditions on the album, and this is where all three musicians are fully engaged in the twisting of the familiar source material. Pohjola's brightest solo contributions can be heard on "Song of Trust" and the strange traditional-oriented Jazz Blues. An oddity on the album is the Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge song Ninghe, which is played without alteration from the original.

credits

released March 1, 2003

Mika Pohjola - piano
Drew Gress - bass
Mark Ferber - drums

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

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Blue Music Group Stockholm, Sweden

The Small Label with Big Music.

Blue Music Group is the vision of composition, performance and production of Mika Pohjola. Having recorded his debut album for composer legend Gunther Schuller’s GM Recordings, Pohjola became a Steinway piano artist in 1997, and records a variety of music which is characterized by a particularly high quality.

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